Mercenary Audio - Pendulum Audio Quartet II Mercenary Edition, Pair

The Q-II has four different sounding [all great] mic pre options, a variation on a Pultec EQP-1A and MEQ-5 along with an "aggressive" feature that lends the net result of two very different passive style equalizers, a tube based compressor that has at least a half dozen sonic options with a brick wall peak limiter that also nets two different tones and textures. Last in the flexibility department any of the four sections can be employed independently... and it all comes in a tidy 2 RU package complete with a VU meter. In the amazing world of "bang for the buck" the Q-II is absolutely unsurpassed.

The Quartet II is neither an update nor a replacement for our very popular Quartet, but complementary unit that incorporates a substantially different combination of elements. Many additional options have been provided to tailor the texture of the audio character for maximum musical flexibility.

The tube Mic/DI preamp has the unique option of being able to switch between two markedly different sounding input transformers and loading options. The DI can handle pickups, keyboards, or line-level signals. The mic preamp also features phantom power, input pad, phase reversal, and a switchable lo-cut filter. Independent gain and output controls permit overdrive of the tube stage to vary the harmonic content of the preamp.

The delta-mu compressor, derived from the popular ES-8, has the classic compression profile of the Fairchild 660 and 670 limiters. It can be used in one of five modes: Fast, Faster, Vintage (with program-dependent response), Average (rms responding), or full manual operation. It also features a switchable sidechain high pass filter to decrease the sensitivity of the compressor to low frequency content.

The new 3 band tube Passive/Aggressive Equalizer is a modern take on the classic inductor-based passive EQ. It features simultaneous Lo Shelf boost and cut, Mid Dip and Hi Peak bands. The Aggressive mode increases the saturation of the EQ network to add harmonic content. In addition, the EQ can be placed before or after the compressor with the flip of a switch.

The new JFET/MOSFET Peak Limiter uses a novel approach to brickwall analog limiting, with JFET and MOSFET modes for two different characters of peak limiting, and accurate led metering in 1dB increments. Unlike other designs, the peak limiter adds no appreciable distortion below threshold.

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